22. Are You Falling For Me?

Casey's POV

I was totally freaking out when I saw Noah. Without even thinking, I rushed over to him. Noah looked up, his eyes kinda dim, but he still managed a smile.

"It's you," Noah mumbled.

"What the hell happened to you?" I crouched down, sitting in front of him.

"Keep it down. You'll get people's attention."

"Noah, you're bleeding!"

"Shhh, I know, and don't panic. I'm fine."

"No, no, no. Look at your hand. What happened?"

"Just a little accident, and yeah, that's how it goes. I was rushing to campus."

I didn't know what to say. Seeing Noah like this totally made me panic. Anyone would feel the same way.

"You need to go to the hospital."

"Oh, don't be dramatic, Casey. This is normal."

"Normal?" I couldn't wrap my head around Noah's ‘normal’ being his hand covered in blood. "You're hurt."

"Can you help me?"

"I can't drive a motorcycle."

Noah just laughed. I wasn't kidding! What was wrong with him? This was not funny at all.

"I'm not asking you to take me to the hospital. Go to the Health Center. Ask for alcohol and some stuff to clean the wound."

"Why don't you just go there? They'll take care of you."

"They shouldn't know I'm hurt. Hurry up. I have class. I gotta clean this up fast."

It sucked seeing Noah like this, but I couldn't just leave him.

"Alright, I'll hit up the Health Center."

"Don't let anyone know about me," Noah warned.

I left my bag with Noah and then practically ran to the Health Center. It took like ten minutes to walk. I asked for stuff to treat wounds and clean blood.

"Is there a problem?" the medic at the Health Center asked, handing over what I asked for. "If someone's hurt, it's better to bring them here to get treated."

"It's okay. Nothing serious," I said. "Thank you so much."

I hurried back to the library. From the campus garden, I saw Lucas with some of my classmates, chatting and laughing their heads off. I couldn't believe I was stuck taking care of Noah. I should've just agreed to hang out with Lucas. Now there was no way I could leave Noah. He was in emergency mode.

I got back to Noah. He was still sitting in the same spot, eyes closed. His face was a little pale, and the wound was super obvious.

"You sure you don't wanna go to the Health Center? You don't look good. It's two in the afternoon. Do you even still have class?"

"Professor McCarty just texted me that he canceled the meeting. I was supposed to meet him to talk about my thesis."

I sighed. Even if he lived in a world I didn't get, I appreciated that he was still focused on his education. I moved closer, then pulled out the stuff I brought from the Health Center. Noah immediately grabbed a gauze pad and wiped it on his bloody hand.

"Argh!" Noah groaned in pain. I figured it must've hurt so bad he couldn't hold it in.

"Noah, please, just let the medics take care of you."

"No..."

Noah stuck to his guns. Even in pain, he kept cleaning his own wound. He grabbed the alcohol, but he seemed to be struggling to pour it. I'm not some heartless person, so I quickly helped him. Honestly, it grossed me out, but I couldn't just let Noah do it himself. I cleaned the wound with alcohol.

"You're pretty competent," Noah said.

"Shut up! You always mess up my library time. My assignments are never done because of you!"

"Sorry, I didn't know you’d be in the library."

"If you're hurt, you shouldn't even be on campus! Why are you pushing yourself?"

"Someone's waiting for me on this campus."

"Who?"

"You."

I froze, then looked up. Noah's eyes were staring right into mine. His answer just stunned me for a second.

"I wasn't waiting for you."

"Really?" Noah smiled.

I put some medicine on Noah's arm wounds, then covered them with special bandages. They were pretty big, so I needed a lot of gauze and tape.

"Don't tease me. I wasn't looking for you. I didn't even care if you came or not. And now you're making me care because you're like this."

After I finished with Noah's hand, it was time to clean his face. Ugh, this was seriously torture. I had to stare at him intensely to treat him.

"You can go if you want. I can handle myself."

"Don't be an idiot. You can't even move your injured arm."

Noah smiled again. I bet he was in serious pain. His condition was honestly pathetic. Good thing he didn't have to meet Professor McCarthy. He wouldn't be able to focus like this.

I kept gently wiping his injured face until it was clean. Damn. I couldn't focus. The flashback of us hooking up flashed again. It made my heart pound even faster.

"I'm sorry about what my mom said," I offered. "She didn't mean any harm."

"I totally get where she's coming from. People who don't know me would definitely think I'm a bad influence."

"You're not," I countered.

"See? You're falling for me, aren't you?"

"Don't be ridiculous! I am not falling for you!"

"Well, honestly, I've never hooked up feeling awkward like I did with you. I had to be careful not to scare you off."

"I wasn't scared. Why are you even talking about that? You said you only had sex once with a woman. Why bring it up?"

As I said that, I suddenly saw Lucas standing with some friends. They were staring at me after what I'd just said.

"Lu-Lucas?" I felt busted. Wasn't Lucas going to hang out with his friends? Why was he suddenly here?

Lucas didn't say anything. He just walked right past me without even looking.

"Lucas, wait!" I wanted to go after him, but Noah stopped me by grabbing my arm.

"I gotta explain something to Lucas, Noah!"

"Why? Why do you need to explain anything to him? Are you dating him?"

"I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"Everyone knows you and I have been close lately. And Lucas likes you. He doesn't like seeing me with you. You don't need to explain anything if there's nothing going on. Besides, you can't leave me like this."

I just felt guilty because yesterday I'd argued with Lucas that there was no way I'd ever sleep with Noah, but in reality, I just fell right into it. I slept with Noah, and Lucas knew it now. He was definitely going to think I was some cheap girl.

I looked at Noah, who was still helpless. Now what was I supposed to do with him?

"You need to go home," I said.

"I can't move. I'm staying here."

"No way, Noah... the library closes at five. You can't stay here."

"Then what? I can't get up. Unless you're gonna carry me out of here."

"You could come here. Why can't you leave? Don't lie!"

I tried to pull Noah up, but he just screamed in pain. He really couldn't stand up.

"Noah!"

"I told you I can't get up. You don't believe me!"

This was worse than I thought. Why did he have to come to campus? How was I going to get him out of here?

"What if I tell your dad?"

"I'd rather die than call him!"